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A-Z Challenge day 22

well, the place where I live is not really a village, but not much of a town either. It is a rural area, with plenty of farms, fields and cows , not small enough to know everybody anymore, but the neighbourhood is at least a bit more friendly than living in the city. You know the people that live on your street, may that be good or bad, I don´t want to decide.

When we moved here, 40!!! years ago, I was 5 years old, turning 6 a couple of months later. I started school that summer, and I remember loving to roam the fields and a small wooded area just down the road. Not really a wood where you could get lost, but perfect to play all day, climb trees and feel like an adventurer.

Nowadays there in hardly any trees left, there have been houses built left, right and centre, and the only place where children can play is the playground just opposite of our house. Not that anybody would let their children run around unsupervised!

God only knows how we survived, because as soon as we could, we went off to play outside with friends, or in my case, alone, and nobody knew where we where for hours… We only came home when we where either hungry or hurt ourselves, sometimes not even that, because we might have been grounded, or at least shouted at for being foolish.

I remember going out on my bike, one summer, maybe about 10 years old, wanting to go swimming, and having to cross the main road, got hit by a car. Nothing really dramatic, just the front tire of my bike was bent, and I had some cuts and bruises, but obviously I didn´t go back home! No way, my mum would have thrown a fit if I had come back, so I just headed to the swimming pool anyway.

Bad luck for me, because one of our neighbours had seen the whole thing of course, and when she saw my mum, asked if I was all right. So, you can probably imagine the state my mum was in when I got home, I certainly got my head ripped off, lol, more for not being careful and damaging the bike mind you, than about my bruises.

The one thing I liked about the way we grew up was, that we got independent a lot more quickly than children these days. We didn´t have many toys, so we made our own. My dad had a workshop in the cellar with loads of tools, saws, hammer anything you needed, and I remember when he was at work I went down there and made myself a rifle out of a piece of wood I found. I didn´t cut off a finger, and it was so much fun, trying to figure out myself how to do it. I was really proud of it, even though it looked like crap probably, but at least I made it myself. And with proper tools, not the stupid little things they sell for kids these days.

I must say, I am really glad that I grew up in the good old days, without a computer, a car, or anything else. If I wanted to go anywhere I had to either walk or ride my bike, and my favourite pasttime when at home was reading anything I could get my hands on. Watching TV was something we hardly ever did, with only 3 channels and not a lot of childrens programmes.

We had to use our own imagination, and that´s what we did. I still have a bit of a knack for daydreaming, especially now that I am not working, so I have plenty of time for it 🙂

Oh I loved it…..even when I was *forced* to go play with other kids, I always found their bookshelf and spent happy hours just reading! I think todays kids are just so….sheltered by parents, and also everything is given to them in terms of never having to imagine anything, or figure stuff out on their own. I have yet to see a kid lie on the grass and make landscapes from the clouds.

yepp, I guess we where the lucky ones, didn´t have to work at too young an age, though I really did, started working at the stables where I was doing horse- riding from when I was 13 or so, but that was something I loved; but had all the freedom we wanted…

I did horse-riding from 12-about 18, barely finished school after having to repeat my last year, due to lack of attending classes…. best and worst year of my life really, but wouldn´t miss a single day. Hated school, loved horses. Easy as that. And then I had to grow up and find a proper job, so I had to quit riding…